Reaching for you
by Kid.Dice
Summary: Sesshomaru Ookami and Rin Takahashi are teacher and student at Rumic High School. In a series of events, the two try to reach each other, always missing, never quite touching in their attempts to breach the small distance between them.


_Okay, here's Kid Dice with a little one-shot about Sesshomaru and older Rin. I hope you enjoy, and please read and review (I always appreciate reviews!)_

* * *

They were always missing. When she took a step forward, he took a step back. When he reached out his hand, she withdrew her own.

But Rin wasn't going to let that happen anymore, not if she could help it.

…

_March 1__st__, 8:45 pm at Shikon cafe_

"You know that students aren't allowed to get part-time jobs at our high school, right, Rin?" Rin's oldest friend, Kohaku Ryoushi, said to her in exasperation.

Rin ignored Kohaku and began to clean the café tables. It had been over a month since she'd taken up a job as a waitress at Shikon café, his favorite shop, and still he hadn't noticed her. Rin kept on telling herself that the next day they might exchange glances, say a few words, even if it was just him scolding her for taking a job— she just wanted him to notice her.

"You know," Kohaku continued, undeterred by Rin's obliviousness to him. "Can't you just go for someone who, you know, _isn't your homeroom teacher_? You're pretty popular with the guys I know."

"It has to be him," Rin replied firmly. It was Rin's positive, unwavering spirit, her bright smile, and her long dark hair that made her a popular idol at the high school. However, she didn't care for the yearning eyes of her classmates— she just wanted those amber eyes, so cold and reserved, to turn on her just once. She wanted the heart of the man all girls at her school pined for and knew they would never obtain. She just wanted Sesshomaru Ookami to notice her.

Kohaku sighed, recognizing that look in Rin's eyes. It was the one time when her spirited will softened just a little bit into tenderness, and Rin's dark eyes became gentle rather than radiant. She always had that expression when she was thinking about Mr. Sesshomaru Ookami.

Kohaku checked his watch and rose from his seat, saying, "you know, Rin, even if he wasn't your teacher, Mr. Ookami still wouldn't be with you. He cares about nobody. He doesn't even remember the faces of his students. You could work at his favorite café forever, and he still wouldn't recognize you."

"I'm not going to give up," Rin replied, her dark eyes glittering.

They were always like that, like parallel lines that were always side by side but never touched. Sesshomaru the proud teacher and Rin, his bright student. Never touching, always missing, even if it was by just an inch. Rin was going to change that.

…

_March 2__nd__, 3:15 pm at Rumic High School_

The bell rang on incessantly, and throwing his bag over his shoulders while ignoring the female students who called out to him, Sesshomaru glided through the halls of the high school. He had one destination ever since about a month ago, and that was Shikon café.

"That foolish girl," Sesshomaru muttered in his usually cold voice. He was thinking, of course, of Rin Takahashi. About a month ago while making one of his infrequent visits to Shikon Jewel he had noticed the flash of a bright smile and long, dark hair, and there was his student, Rin, working at the Shikon café as a waitress.

Ever since that day, Sesshomaru visited Shikon café every day and always during Rin's shift. While he could ignore every other student with cold composure at the high school, Rin was different. Sesshomaru went to the café to keep an eye on Rin. Didn't that girl know that teachers from Rumic high frequented that spot? The main reason Sesshomaru went to the café was to make sure Rin didn't get caught by any of the teachers, and from his table, he made sure she wouldn't get caught or in trouble with any of the other teachers.

"I guess you're not as scary and uncaring as you look," Kagura Onigumo, Sesshomaru's colleague, laughed as she met him at the café.

Sesshomaru glared at the woman. One day Kagura had confronted him and told him that she knew Rin had a part-time at the Shikon Jewel. She swore never to tell the school as long as Sesshomaru would meet her at the café, and reluctantly, grudgingly, Sesshomaru walked over to her table and had coffee with her.

"That Takahashi girl is so lucky to have you as a teacher," Kagura said with a smile. "Most teachers wouldn't protect their students like this, especially not you. Why is she so special?"

Sesshomaru said nothing, his amber eyes flicking over from his coffee and then to the counter. It didn't look like Rin was there yet.

Catching Sesshomaru's glance, Kagura let out a low, crimson-lipped laugh. Sesshomaru narrowed his cold, golden eyes on the woman.

"She's got some daring, taking a part-time job with our school rules," Kagura remarked as she lifted her coffee to her scarlet mouth.

"Why did it have to be her?" Sesshomaru breathed, easing himself into his chair. If it had been any other student, he was sure he could have ignored it or wouldn't have minded reporting them to the school. When he thought about Rin, though, he just couldn't bring himself to do it. And then he found himself going to this goddamned café day after day to watch that girl from the corner of his eye and make sure she was safe, unnoticed, and smiling as usual.

Kagura gave Sesshomaru a look and said, "why does it matter if it's her?"

"I don't know," Sesshomaru answered in icy tones. But, thinking about smiling, bright Rin, he knew that it did matter that it was her.

He had a feeling that he'd be at this café for a while.

…

_March 12__th__, 4:15 pm at Shikon café_

With Rin's affable and optimistic attitude, it was rarely that she ever found something or someone that she didn't like. Recently she had discovered she had both something and someone that kept her asleep at night. That something was Sesshomaru's visits to the Shikon Café with a woman, and that someone was Miss Kagura Onigumo.

During one of Rin's shifts, she had noticed Sesshomaru sitting at his usual sitting at his usual spot and having his usual drink. And then she noticed the beautiful woman sitting across from him, a teacher from her own high school. Kagura Onigumo. Then whenever Rin glanced over at Sesshomaru's table, she'd she Kagura sitting across from him, every time, with her red lips curved in a lovely smile and a feather in her dark, arranged hair.

"They look good together, don't they?" Kohaku said to Rin as he sat at the counter.

"They might not be together," Rin tried to say confidently, but from across the café she caught Kagura's sculpted smile, and her heart fell. She tried to focus on cleaning glasses and plates. "And I thought you said that Mr. Ookami didn't care about anybody."

"Not about students," Kohaku said, putting his chin in his hands. "But if it's another teacher, it could happen. Student-teacher relationships just don't work in the real-world, Rin. You should give up on this before you do get caught and expelled."

Frowning, Rin grabbed her dishrag, frothy with soap and bubbles, and shoved it into Kohaku's face. Kohaku sputtered, prying Rin's hands away from his face, and then he spat out the soapy residue from his mouth as he wiped his freckled face with his sleeve.

"I'm just trying to help you, you know. I am your oldest friend," Kohaku complained, and he tossed the dishrag on the counter. "It'll be impossible to get Mr. Ookami to like you."

Still glowering at Kohaku, Rin heard a wonderful peel of laughter from across the room, and she saw Kagura laughing in delight and wiping her eyes. A red smile broke across her face, and then with a crimson-nailed hand, she touched Sesshomaru's shoulder.

Rin's heart sank.

…

_March 12__th__, 4:15 pm at Shikon café_

"They look good together, don't they?" Kagura remarked to Sesshomaru from across the table.

Sesshomaru gave her a cold glance. "What are you talking about?"

Kagura pointed to the counter of the café, and Sesshomaru's golden eyes found Rin in her cream-white apron, cleaning silverware, as she talked to a young man with his dark hair tied into a ponytail. Sesshomaru vaguely remembered the boy's face, and then he remembered who it was— Kohaku Ryoushi.

Kagura watched Rin and Kohaku, and said vaguely, "those two make a cute couple, don't you think? I see them together quite a bit at Rumic high. Rin Takahashi and Kohaku Ryoushi, the famous pair. I wonder if they're dating."

The look that Sesshomaru threw Kagura was so ruthlessly cold that Kagura almost shuddered. She had never seen those amber eyes in so fierce and unrelenting a gaze. "It doesn't matter," Sesshomaru breathed, glaring at his coffee.

"It doesn't look like that," Kagura replied scathingly.

Sesshomaru said nothing, knowing that whatever words he spoke now would be laced with malice. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Rin, energetic, and talking animatedly with Kohaku as he smiled. It shouldn't have mattered to him who she talked to or who she liked. He was only there to make sure she wouldn't get in trouble, to make sure she was safe, protected— he would just watch, uninvolved, from the background. He shouldn't have wanted to be involved with her.

Then why did he feel so annoyed?

From across the café, Sesshomaru heard a yell, and he saw Rin holding a towel to Kohaku's face playfully as he tried to fight her off, holding her arms. Rin gave a little smile, and finally let Kohaku push her away. Sesshomaru glared harder than ever.

Throwing back her dark head, Kagura uttered a loud, joyful laugh and said, "high-schoolers, really! They just don't know how to hold themselves back. Those two are definitely together."

"You don't know that," Sesshomaru replied tersely.

Kagura looked at him with a simpering, demeaning smile. "You say it doesn't matter to you, Sesshomaru, but—" Kagura placed a hand condescendingly on Sesshomaru's shoulder, "—you should see the look on your face."

His visage of pure scorn, Sesshomaru flicked Kagura's hand away and then looked into his dark reflection across the surface in his drink.

He hoped he didn't look like that in front of Rin.

…

_March 20__th__, 2:30 pm at Rumic High School_

Rin was sitting at her desk by the window and trying to ignore the excited gossip of the girls next to her.

"Doesn't he look hotter than usual?"

"Who?"

"Sesshomaru Ookami, who else!"

The girl's laughed. Her eyes moving from the black board to her teacher, Rin examined Sesshomaru's usual handsome face, his golden eyes lowered in their usual cold demeanor. His blonde hair of such paleness that it almost appeared white fell down his back and shoulders, and Sesshomaru stood regally tall, proud, and so temptingly unreachable.

Rin remembered Kohaku's words. Of course, with his good-looks, Sesshomaru was an unobtainable dream among the entire female student body at Rin's high school. But that didn't mean Rin would give up. She would just try harder, she told herself, she would just try to grab his attention in any way she could, even if it meant getting a forbidden part-time job. Maybe Sesshomaru would notice her.

Then the vision of a beautiful woman with dark lips and a feather in her ebony hair flashed through Rin's mind, and she felt the familiar weight in her stomach.

"Are you listening, Miss Takahashi?"

Rin jerked up in her seat, awoken from her reveries by that familiar low voice. Sesshomaru was watching her with his gold eyes.

"Of course, Mr. Ookami," Rin answered a little too loudly, and Sesshomaru gave her a look before turning back to the chalk-board. Rin knew that she should have been dreading being caught day-dreaming by her teacher, Sesshomaru Ookami most of all, but she couldn't suppress the excitement. At least at school, he noticed her a little. Rin felt the joy blossom within her like a little light, and she couldn't help but smile.

When Rin got to the Shikon café and found Kohaku leaning against the counter, she grabbed her apron and arranged the silver-wear, humming all the while.

Kohaku raised a dark eyebrow. "You're in a good mood. Have you finally moved on from Mr. Ookami?"

"Nope!" said Rin, smilingly and Kohaku looked puzzled. "I'm just not going to give up! I will get him to notice me."

Kohaku sighed, saying, "Of course you will," before his cellphone rang in his pocket. Kohaku took one look at the screen and then, his eyes wide, he jumped out of his seat. "Oh crap, I forgot that my sister had something to do today—I was supposed to watch her kids—I'd better go—!"

Kohaku darted out of the café door, leaving the bell jangling through the shop. Rin still hummed to herself, and then she was him appear through the door, a man with flashing eyes and dark, straggly hair— the assistant principal, Naraku Onigumo, looking at the shop with a malicious smile on his face. He walked straight toward her.

…

_March 20__th__, 4: 15 pm at Rumic High School_

"Why are you still here?"

Sesshomaru glared at Kagura from his desk and clicked his pen. "What does it look like I'm doing?" he said in cold tones. "My job."

Kagura crossed her arms and bit her lower lip. "Why aren't you doing it at that café? You know, with your favorite student?"

"I don't favor any of my students," Sesshomaru replied in a low voice.

"Of course you don't," Kagura replied dryly.

Sesshomaru said nothing and tried not to think about Rin. He shouldn't have been thinking about this girl, his student, that much. He was already going out of his way to keep an eye on her at her part-time job, but now whenever he thought her heard her light, ringing voice, he would turn his head and look for her. He saw her smiling in the halls, chatting with her friends, with that warm expression on her lovely face—

And then he remembered, darkly, that one boy. That Kohaku Ryoushi. She had talked to him so easily, and she even trusted him with her part-time job, something she could have been suspended for. Then, while Sesshomaru had been teaching his class, he saw her looking out the window with that dazed, pondering expression on her face. Was she thinking about that boy with that longing look? Before Sesshomaru could stop himself, he called out to her and brought her brown, shining eyes back on him. He couldn't help himself.

Sesshomaru decided that the only way to stop these feelings was to distance himself from Rin, even if only for a while. If he went to the shop, there would be no way for him to tear himself away from Rin. He couldn't let himself get too attached to her.

"I'm not going to that place today," Sesshomaru answered Kagura simply.

"That…might not be a good idea," Kagura said in a quiet voice and Sesshomaru turned to her.

"What do you mean?"

Kagura leaned against Sesshomaru's desk. "It seems that, somehow, rumor got out of some students taking part time jobs. My brother, the assistant principal, is going to visit some frequent student shops in the area. I don't know exactly what he plans, but I think he's going to check Shikon café."

Pushing himself out from his desk, Sesshomaru draped his coat over his shoulders and marched through the hallways without a second glance at Kagura.

"Wait!" Kagura called out to him. "What are you going to do?"

"My job," Sesshomaru answered icily. "Protecting my student."

…

_March 20__th__, 5:00 pm at Shikon café_

Her heart beating hard in her chest, Rin hid in the kitchen while the manager, Kaede, confronted Naraku at the counter.

"And what is your business here, sir?" Kaede asked.

Naraku gave the woman a dark smile. "I'm here on behalf of my school, Rumic High School. It appears that some students have been taking part-time jobs at shops like this. I'm afraid I can't allow that to continue."

Rin ran out of the kitchen and into the student work room, hearing her heart pounding in her ears. She couldn't let him see her— if she could just get out—

"I don't think we have anybody like that here, Mr. Onigumo," Kaede lied with a wry smile. Rin felt her gratitude for the old woman surge.

Naraku gave a thin-lipped smile, cold and condescending. "I think you should let me look for myself," he answered in a curt voice, and Kaede slowly let him behind the counter and into the work area.

Rin sped into the employee lounge, looking for the emergency exit. She fumbled on the keys, and pressing them into the lock, she rushed out of the door. It was dark, abandoned. She tried to keep her heart still, and if she could just run, she'd be safe—

The door screeched open, and her heart racing, Rin hastily hid herself behind the dumpster. She couldn't let Naraku hear her running away, she couldn't let him notice her— she was so close—

"Is this door usually unlocked?" Naraku said as he stepped out onto the asphalt, scanning the area. Rin heard his approaching footsteps, and pressed herself against the wall, willing her heart to be silent.

"Not usually for customers," Kaede said haltingly.

"Really?" said Naraku with a smile, and Rin could feel the gravel crunching beneath the soles of his shoes, and she could hear him coming closer.

Then she felt long fingers slip over her mouth, and all Rin could see was white-bright hair, so light it was nearly silver, as Sesshomaru pressed her against him. Rin struggled, her face pressed into Sesshomaru's shoulders, and then she felt Sesshomaru's hands tight and fast around her.

"Sesshomaru Ookami?" Naraku said in his low voice, standing before Sesshomaru. Rin couldn't move or see anything with her face held against Sesshomaru's chest, and Sesshomaru kept her face hidden with his hand in her dark hair. "What are you doing here?"

"What does it look like?" Sesshomaru answered simply, his arms still fast around Rin. "I'm meeting my waitress. That is the reason I go to this shop, after all."

Naraku's voice was quiet and seething. "And you haven't seen any students here at all."

Sesshomaru held Rin's face, hidden, against his chest. Rin didn't move in his arms. "None," he answered firmly, and Rin heard Naraku's footsteps retreating and then she heard the final shut of the door. Her heart still pounding hard, she felt the relief course through her and she eased into Sesshomaru's arms— then, realizing she was in Sesshomaru's arms, Rin pushed herself hastily away.

"What," said Sesshomaru, his voice low, "did you think you were doing?"

Rin huddled against the wall, feeling Sesshomaru's amber eyes fixed on her. She lifted her chin and returned his look with her own dark, arresting, and undaunted eyes. "I'm not going to apologize. I needed to take a job here."

"It's forbidden for students to have jobs. Do you realize that you could have been expelled?"

"I know that—"

"Then why—?"

"It was the only way I could get you to notice me!" Rin said, her chest heaving, and she continued as bravely as she could manage, "I took this job to get closer to you, Mr. Ookami. I know you always go to Shikon café, and I thought if I worked here, you might notice. I wanted you to look at me," Rin said simply. A bitter smile crossed her lips. "But I didn't know that you were with Ms. Onigumo."

"Kagura?" said Sesshomaru. Rin nodded her dark head, not looking at Sesshomaru. "Why the hell would I be with her?"

Rin blinked. "But you're here with her every day."

"I don't care about her," Sesshomaru answered simply. "You shouldn't care, either. You're together with that Ryoushi boy."

"Kohaku?" Rin said with wide eyes. "We're…not together. We're friends. If I liked him, I wouldn't be doing all of this to get closer to you."

Sesshomaru said nothing, staring at Rin. Rin looked at him with her dark eyes. Then Sesshomaru remembered. She was his student. He couldn't do this. What was he supposed to be doing?

"You have to stop this," Sesshomaru said in a cold voice, feeling Rin's eyes on him. He kept his voice even and aloof. It was his duty. "You should stop working here."

Watching Sesshomaru's amber eyes, Rin gave a bittersweet smile, saying, "thanks for helping me out," and then she raced back into the café.

…

_April 1__st__, 6:00 pm at Shikon café_

Sesshomaru was at Shikon café with Kagura, his coffee emitting thick steam. While Sesshomaru still continued to visit the café, he hadn't seen Rin anymore at the shop.

"Why didn't you tell that girl the truth?" Kagura said incredulously. "That you always knew she was here, and that's why you came here?"

Sesshomaru closed his golden eyes. "It doesn't matter now."

"But she told you that she worked here for you," Kagura pressed on.

"She's my student. I was just here…to make sure she didn't get caught. And now I've done my job."

Kagura frowned and pounded her cup against the table top. "Okay, then," she hissed impatiently. "If you were just here to watch out for her, then why are you still here every day when she's gone?"

Sesshomaru said nothing, opening his golden eyes just amber slits. Kagura sighed and raised herself from her seat.

"I'll tell you why you're still here," she said, pressing a hand on Sesshomaru's shoulder. "It's because you're waiting for her to come back."

Kagura stepped through the door and called out, "waiting will get you nowhere, Mr. Ookami. If you really want something, you have to grab for it before it slips away."

…

_April 1__st__, 6:00 pm at Ryoushi household _

"Are you sure it's okay to just leave it like this, Rin?" Kohaku asked the girl uncertainly as he played with his twin nieces.

Rin gave her forever bright smiles and sat Kohaku's baby nephew beside her. "Yeah, it's fine," Rin said cheerfully. "I said what I wanted to and Mr. Ookami noticed me in the end. And he told me to stop. You were right." Rin closed her dark eyes. "Student and teacher relationships never work."

Kohaku scratched his dark head. "But he saved you from getting in trouble with the school."

"Yes, and I'm grateful for him for that," Rin answered with a strained smile. "That's why it's time that I stop bothering him."

Kohaku gave his friend a look. "Rin," he began and touched the girl's arm. "Did you ever wonder when Mr. Ookami noticed you were working at the Shikon café? How would he have known that Mr. Onigumo would find you there? He couldn't have protected you if he didn't notice you. He's probably noticed for a while."

Rin said nothing, her dark head bowed.

"You know, Rin," said Kohaku, "you've always watched Mr. Ookami from the sidelines. But if you really want to connect, sometimes you've got to stop waiting and reach out for him. Maybe then, you'd find he's also been reaching for you from the other side."

…

_April 2__nd__, 3:45 pm at Rumic High School_

Sesshomaru was walking out of the school, his bag looped over his shoulder, and then he made his last visit to Shikon café. As he sat at his table, he saw the hem of a white apron, and a young woman approached him with a canister of coffee and a bright smile on her face.

"What would you like today, Mr. Ookami?" Rin asked Sesshomaru. "I'll be serving you today."

Sesshomaru watched the girl with the faintest expression of surprise. She smiled at him with that forever bright smile. "I thought I told you to quit," Sesshomaru said, though there wasn't the usual coldness in his voice.

"I was going to, but if I did I wouldn't have you to protect me anymore."

"How did you know that?" Sesshomaru asked hurriedly.

Rin blinked. "I didn't," she said in a small voice.

Watching Rin's astounded expression, Sesshomaru sighed and put his head in his hands. What was it with this girl making him do the most absurd things?

When Sesshomaru found Rin looking at him, she had such an expression of radiant joy that he couldn't tear his gaze away. Sighing ever so faintly, Sesshomaru pushed himself up from his seat and encircled Rin in his arms. The girl froze, startled, and then Sesshomaru untied her apron and threw it onto the table, grabbing Rin's hand.

"Mr. Ookami?" Rin gasped as Sesshomaru walked toward the door and brought her forward.

"You're quitting," he said simply and pushed open the door.

"But—"

Holding Rin's hand tight and pulling her under his arm, Sesshomaru said in a low voice, "no matter where you are, I'd still be watching out for you," and, as Rin watched him with a smile adorning her face, she grabbed Sesshomaru's arm, pressed herself against him, and closed the little, lasting gap as she reached up for his mouth.

When Rin leaned away, Sesshomaru watched her with blank, golden eyes. "What was that for?" he asked.

Rin smiled. "Sometimes you have to reach out to connect with someone," she answered.

Watching Rin's bright, lovely expression, Sesshomaru cupped the sides of her face and pulled her in for a kiss. Rin touched her mouth, stunned, blushing. Sesshomaru held her shoulder and kept from drawing away. His lips hovered against Rin's ear and he whispered:

"Don't think you're the only one."


End file.
